Touch my Hands
by myPEN
Summary: Bella Swan is lost in a life she never knew she could. That is until a handsome Edward comes along and accepts her for all her flaws & secrets. But, Edward has a few secrets of his own that threaten to kill their future together. READ! :


**author's note: HEYA! This is my very first fan fiction. I worked semi hard on it, but the story gets better with more twists and turns and unexpected events! So read, review, love & critique. If there are any errors spotted, message me & I shall fix it was a swiftness! thanks & I tryly hope you enjoy it.**

**DISCLAIMER: i don't own Twilight nor any of the characters. All credit goes to the amazing Stephanie Meyer for being so awesome! Okay.....ENJOY! 3**

**Touch my hands**

**PROLOGUE**

The possibility of sleep sounded wonderful to me, but my mother's constant nagging about the holidays, which were a mere two months away, pushed the thought far from my mind. I groaned pulling the phone away from my ear as she began talking about Charlie, my laid back father, and his eccentric new girlfriend, Loraine.

"…and how dare he even think that he can talk to me in that manner? I think I've been through quite enough giving birth to his first, and only, child…"

I zoned out again. Renee strongly disagreed with Charlie's taste in women, as did he her taste in men. They both fought constantly over parental rights, and ultimately, the decision usually came down to being mine. The divorce had left each of them bitter, and hating one another, and most of all, fighting over me since the age of three. Renee had won the battle for much of my childhood, and Charlie was granted the holidays, which is how I became fond of the snow. Now, I'd moved in with Charlie merely two months ago, to escape Renee and her husband Phil's fighting. Phil was never abusive to me, however he took a liking to inflicting pain on Renee, physically and mentally. While I was never subject to any of his rants, I always fell victim to him during the wee hours of the night when Renee failed to perform in the bedroom. Phil never took it too far, but they were moments I cared not to share with Renee.

Phil, wasn't an alcoholic like most would think. The problems that he had as a child, carried over into his adult life and the anger he felt toward his mother and father for abandoning him, were pushed onto my mother. The fact that he couldn't find work as a minor league baseball player-his true passion- also added onto the fact that my mother was supporting the household.

The move we made to Jacksonville, Florida made me realize how much I didn't belong in Renee's unstable life. I couldn't stand being Phil's feel up late at night and I refused to watch Renee sit there like a child getting reprimanded by her father everyday. So, after giving Renee the notice that I was leaving and telling Charlie that I would be coming, I left.

"…and your father knows how I feel about-"

"Mom," I hated to interrupt her, but I couldn't sit on the phone and listen to her bash Charlie another minute. "I have school tomorrow,.. First day, remember and I don't wanna fall asleep in class. I'll give you a call tomorrow." I suggested.

She hung onto the line for a moment, not wanting to let me go. "Alright, Bella. I love you and be safe."

"You too mom." The weight of my response heavily reigned even after we'd hung up. I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling for a moment, listening to the sound of the television blaring the game downstairs. Charlie must have drifted off by now on the couch, forgetting to turn off the TV, or probably being too lazy. I got under the covers and curled up into a ball, drifting off to sleep myself.

The next morning I woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking downstairs. I showered, and looked through my not so great wardrobe before deciding on a pair of dark blue jeans and a plain black flannel and grey button up. I grabbed my chucks, threw my hair into a messy ponytail and scurried down the stairs toward the kitchen, my stomach growling. Loraine was standing at the stove, flipping pancakes.

"Good morning, Bella." She said looking up at me and giving me a warm smile. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Charlie was sitting at the table, watching us intently. He wanted to feel Loraine out and see how she interacted with me, and so far I could tell that he was pleased with what he saw. She'd been putting on a good front for him. "Would you like something to eat before school?"

I nodded and took a seat across from Charlie who grinned at me, lovingly. "First day, huh? Nervous?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Come on, Dad!" I laughed. "You know I'm good with first impressions."

"I know."

"And just in case you're not," Loraine sat my plate in front of me. "Lauren will be there to introduce you to a couple of her friends. Doesn't that sound nice?" she went and stood behind Charlie, and glared at me a sinister smirk written across her evil face. Charlie held a hopeful expression.

He wanted me to like Lauren and make friends and get along great with his girlfriend, but I didn't know if I could. If things didn't work out well here in Forks, there was no place else to go. Besides, Lauren was the most obnoxious individual I have ever met in my whole life. I couldn't imagine who her friends were.

"Sure." I murmured and stuffed some food into my mouth before they could ask another question.

Charlie drove me to Forks High School in his cruiser and then sped off quickly, after wishing me a good day and then I headed up the school. I was the first to arrive in class because all the other kids were still at their lockers and being that I was new, I didn't have one yet. The teacher, Mr. Smith, looked up from his lesson plan and smiled two rows of stained teeth in my direction.

"You must be Isabella Swan." He said with a nod of his head.

I nodded. "Please, call me Bella."

"Well, Bella. You're right on time. You can sit there in the second seat to the back."

When the class began to enter, I noticed a girl with glasses and dark hair sit beside

me. "Hi," she said timidly smiling. "I'm Angela."  
"Bella."

"You're chief Swan's daughter, aren't you?" she asked and I nodded. "Wow, I feel bad for you."

I frowned in confusion. "Why?"

"Because he's dating Lauren's mom, Loraine… they're so snobby."

"Lauren Mallory, a snob?" I snorted. "I would hardly call them that. Try female versions of Godzilla."

She laughed and threw her head back. At lunch, I was met with an angry glare from Lauren across the cafeteria. Angela noticed and shuttered at the sight of her hateful blue eyes stabbing daggers into me.

"Looks like you've managed to make an enemy already." She said.

I groaned and turned my back to her. "What the hell? Don't these girls have colleges to worry about choosing? Why does she have to start drama with me on my first day?" I wondered.

"Maybe it has something to do with Tyler." Angela suggested.

"Who's Tyler?"

"Him…" Angela nodded across the cafeteria where there was a nice looking guy walking in our direction. He stopped in the front of us and then pulled up a chair.

"Hi…" he said looking from me to Angela and then back at me again. "Bella Swan, right?" I nodded. "I'm Tyler … Tyler Crowley." He extended his hand out to me and reluctantly I shook it. "I understand you're the chief's daughter?"

"Yes." I said simply.

"How does that feel?" he asked, folding his hands in front of him.

I looked at Angela in confusion and opened my mouth to respond, but never got a chance when another guy walked up to us. His hair a dirty blonde and his eyes a light baby blue, accenting his child like face to perfection.

"Mike Newton." He also extended his hand, but before I could even consider shaking it, Tyler stood up and pushed him away.

"Don't you see we're talking?" he asked.

"Looked like she was just about to get up and walk away." Mike Newton said with a slight chuckle.

"No, she wasn't. Why don't you go back to Jessica!" Tyler suggested.

Angela and I decided not to stick around and listen to them bicker like little girls. Instead, we stood and began walking toward the cafeteria doors after dumping our trays.

By the time I made it home, I was exhausted and piled with homework. I'd waited outside of the school for Charlie to pick me up, as he'd promised, but he never showed. So, instead I began making us some dinner, while playing catch up on the work I'd missed. Ah the pleasures of entering a school in the middle of the year. I had to catch up in time in order to e ready for the Biology test that would take place the following week. I refused to fail. I was so engulfed in the preparation of dinner, that I was startled when the house phone near the doorway rang. Quickly, I ran to get it.

"Bella?" I recognized the voice immediately as my good friend Jacob Black's.

"Hey, Jake." I said, feeling a lot better.

He sighed. "I… Are you alright?" he asked.

I was confused. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Again he sighed. "I take it that you haven't heard then…"

"Heard what?" I questioned.

He paused a brief moment. "Charlie is in the hospital, Bells. He had a… heart attack."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" I demanded, my voice octaves higher than moments before. "Why?"  
"I thought Loraine-"

"Loraine?" I questioned, her name rolling off my tongue, thick with disgust. "What hospital is he in? How do I get there?"

"I'll come and get you."

"Hurry." I hung up the phone and paced the floors, waiting.

When Jake did finally arrive, I jumped into the car. Charlie's hospital room was crowded with people, some I hadn't seen since I was a kid, and others were just neighbors, and friends.

"Oh, Bella!" Loraine cried when she spotted me, the shock wavering and then being replaced with remorse when she remembered people were watching. She rushed over to me, cupping my face into her hands, and planted a kiss on my cheek. "Everything is going to be alright."  
"What happened?" I wanted to be the judge of that. I looked around hoping to be filled in on the details, when Billy rolled over and stopped a few inches from me.

"Charlie had a heart attack, Bella." He said, shaking his head. "And it doesn't look to good."  
I sighed, gulping down the lump that has risen in my throat. Slowly, I took a seat, and stared down at my hands. Charlie was dying? Suddenly, I felt angry. Angry at Loraine, mostly, because she hadn't bothered to contact me and tell me what had happened. I looked up at her, hate and anger flaring from my eyes and shooting holes into her disguise. She looked around, nervously for a moment and opened her mouth to speak.

Luckily, she never got the chance because the doctor entered. "Bella?" he looked around the crowd and I stood quickly maneuvering my way toward him. "Chief Swan has requested you."

I nodded and entered his room. He was laying on the bed, face directing up towards the ceiling and his hands folded neatly over his stomach. I stepped further into the room, closing the door gently behind me and walking toward the bed. His eyes were closed tight, and the only indication that he was alive was the beating from the machine beside his bed.

"Dad…" I said as I grabbed his hand into mine and gently rubbed it.

He moaned and opened his eyes, slowly staring up at me. "Bells…" he said my name with a sigh of relief following it.

"Hi…I would have come sooner, but-"

"Shhhh, I have some important news to share with you Bells." He muttered and I waited for him to continue. "It seems I won't be getting out anytime soon and while I'm away I want you to be a good girl, alright. I know I just got you back, but I need you to be the angel that I know you are."

"Dad-"

"Bells, listen!" he said a bit louder and winked. "I don't want you going back to Renee's anytime soon. It's not safe for you there, do you understand me? Loraine is gonna take care of you until you're eighteen and then there will be something very important waiting for you." He said.

I nodded and kissed his hands, gently. "I love you, Dad."

With great effort, he brought my fingers to his lips and kissed them also. "I love you…"

I loathed at the way he didn't exactly say he was going to die. Merely made it sound like he was going on a lifelong trip and he would be returning sooner or later. I didn't leave the hospital until I heard the constant beep of the machine in Charlie's room. The end of his life.


End file.
